Iraq can disarm factions only when the US withdraws, prime minister says
By Timour Azhari and Ahmed Rasheed
BAGHDAD (Reuters) -Iraq has pledged to bring all weapons under the control of the state, but that will not work so long as there is a U.S.-led coalition in the country that some Iraqi factions view as an occupying force, the prime minister said on Monday.
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said a plan was still in place to have the multinational anti-Islamic State coalition completely leave Iraq, one of Iran’s closest Arab allies, by September 2026 because the threat from Islamist militant groups had eased considerably.